Sean Hannity's Latest Islamophobic Smear Against Rep. Keith Ellison

Fox News' Sean Hannity followed up two days of attacks on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) by trying to link the Muslim congressman to Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam. The attack was just the latest in Hannity's long history of anti-Muslim attacks on Ellison.

On the February 28 edition of Hannity, host Sean Hannity tried to link Ellison to Farrakhan:

Hannity's allegations follow a long line of smears that he and his peers at Fox News have leveled at Ellison and the Islamic faith. The attacks began as far back as 2006, when Hannity attacked Ellison's intention to take the oath of office on a Quran. Hannity suggested that using the Muslim holy book for a swearing-in was comparable to using "Hitler's Mein Kampf, which is the Nazi bible."

Hannity has hosted Pamela Geller, head of the anti-Muslim group Stop the Islamization of America on air to smear Islam. Geller's group has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "hate group." Hannity was also a vocal defender of evangelist Franklin Graham after Graham said that Muslims are "enslaved" by their religion. And Hannity has mocked Islam's holy figure, referring to him as the "so-called Prophet Muhammad."

Fox News' Islam problem is not confined to Hannity. The network has frequently attacked or attempted to marginalize the Muslim community.

Hannity's latest attacks on Ellison are no exception. Ellison appeared on Hannity's show earlier in the week and exposed Hannity's penchant for misleading his viewers. Forty-eight hours later, Hannity is responding by again resorting to ad hominem attacks.

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BrianPowell
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Brian Powell is an Associate Research Director at Media Matters. He holds a J.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Political Science and Journalism from Miami University in Oxford, OH.